Criteria for rating hospital vegan catering

Below are the criteria used to determine the rating given to each NHS hospital trust for its vegan catering following our Freedom of Information request in March 2015.

Awful – Is unable to provide vegan meals; or has meals incorrectly labelled as vegan (i.e. contain animal products); or has fewer than four vegan main meal options; or provides vegan meals that lack an adequate balance of nutrients (e.g. no source of protein or inadequate range of fruit and vegetables).

Tolerable – Has a small selection of vegan options, but at least four main meals; or fails to properly identify vegan meal options on menus and patient information.

Adequate – Has at least five vegan main meal options as standard; or provides vegan meals on a purely ad hoc basis; or states it can provide vegan meals, but has failed to provide any further details.

Good – Has at least eight standard vegan main meal options, clearly labelled or on a special menu and all nutritionally balanced; or has a limited number of vegan options, but can provide more when required.

Excellent – Has an extensive range of vegan main meal options (at least 12), clearly labelled or on a special menu and all nutritionally balanced; or routinely consults patients about their individual dietary needs and likes on arrival and prepares bespoke menus accordingly.

After assessing each of the FoI responses, we obtained the following results:

• Awful – 8 per cent
• Tolerable – 8 per cent
• Adequate – 26 per cent
• Good – 21 per cent
• Excellent – 37 per cent